


Just Sleep, Nothing Else

by enoughnerve



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Drunk Wylan Van Eck, Flirty Jesper Fahey, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-05-20 03:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19368982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enoughnerve/pseuds/enoughnerve
Summary: Wylan Van Eck gets drunk for the first time and Jesper Fahey takes care of him.or:“Sleep with me.”Jesper blinks. “I- you’re drunk. I’d be taking advantage of you.”Wylan’s ears go bright red again. “I didn’t mean it like that. Literally, sleep with me. Just sleep, nothing… else.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These characters belong to Leigh Bardugo.

Wylan’s not really sure how to be drunk. Well, he thinks he’s working it out fine, but it’s his first time- it’s his first real party, period- and the room’s spinning more than slightly. Inej’s long gone and he lost Jesper to the girl in the green. Incidentally, Jesper leading her by the hand to a secluded corner may or may not be why Wylan kept downing the shots Nina passed to him instead of pushing them away. He lets his head fall into his hands, slumped over the slightly sticky table where he, Nina, and Matthias are sitting.  
“Nina,” he mumbles, but he can’t even hear himself over the music. He lifts his head and stands up somewhat unsteadily, pitching his voice higher to be heard over the din. “I’m gonna go…” He’s not sure where, exactly. “I’m gonna go.” He can’t tell if she’s heard him or not, but she looks like she’s wrapped up enough in Matthias that she won’t miss Wylan anyway.  
At first he tries to keep himself in a straight line, but soon abandons the pretense. It’s not like anyone here is deluded about his sobriety, or lack thereof. He staggers off into a corner where it’s dark and quieter, ending up curled into fetal position against the wall, drifting off a bit at a time.  
“Wylan?”  
He opens his eyes blearily and sees Jesper in front of him, kneeling so they’re at eye level.  
“What d’you want, I’m tired.”  
“How much did you drink?”  
Wylan squints, trying to remember. He starts counting on his fingers but Jesper stops him at five.  
“Alright, never mind. Come on, let’s get you home.”  
“Don’t have to. Where’s she?”  
Jesper frowns, confused. “Who?”  
“Your girlfriend. In the green,” Wylan explains.  
“Oh, her? I’ve no idea.” He pulls Wylan to his feet, Jesper’s arms under Wylan’s, and Wylan shivers, not as much from the cold as the feeling of one whole side of his body pressed against Jesper’s.  
“Don’t have to take me home. Stay… have fun.”  
“Wylan, you know as well as I do that I’m a bastard, but I’m not that much of a bastard.” They leave the party, and the noise gets dramatically quieter as soon as the door shuts behind them and they start off towards the Barrel. “You’re not used to being drunk, are you?”  
“Mm… never been before.”  
“Saints, Wy, you can’t be serious.”  
“Never really interested me.”  
“So you’re a virgin.”  
Wylan feels the tips of his ears flush red. “Sorry?”  
“I mean, you’re new to drinking. That’s all.” Jesper smirks, the same way he does every time he makes Wylan blush.  
Wylan shrugs, unable to come up with a good retort. It’s like the alcohol is slowing his neural pathways or something… he makes a mental note to look into the chemistry of getting drunk.  
“You’ve gone all quiet. Kruge for your thoughts?”  
“Um… chemistry?”  
Jesper snorts. “Course, merchling. Of course you’re thinking about fucking chemistry.”  
“I dunno, ‘s just… fermentation, that’s all. How come ‘s making me so stupid? Not that I wasn’t already.” He mumbles this last bit, but Jesper hears him and shakes his head vehemently.  
“You’re the smartest of the crew. ‘Cept maybe Kaz, and he still knows fuck all about chemistry.”  
“Yeah, well… thanks.”  
“Don’t mention it.”  
They’re stepping off the sidewalk into the street before Wylan realizes it and he isn’t ready for the step down. He loses his balance and falls into Jesper, who catches him like it’s nothing.  
“Easy does it.”  
Jesper keeps his arm around Wylan’s waist instead of taking it away and Wylan should be delighted but instead he’s wondering if Jesper put his arm around her like that.  
“Did you fuck her?”  
Jesper winces. “That’s crude language to come out of such a pretty mouth.”  
“Oh, fuck off. Did you?”  
“Why do you need to know?”  
Wylan shrugs. Jesper’s as good as answered already, anyway, and he can’t keep his head away from that mane of golden hair, from the tight green dress she was wearing, or worse, no dress at all.  
He pulls away from Jesper, regretting it almost immediately when the warmth of his arm and the sturdiness it brought is gone.  
“Are you mad at me?” Jesper looks bemused, like he really can’t see why Wylan would be.  
“No,” Wylan mumbles, kicking a rock on the street.  
“Looks like you wish that rock was my head.”  
“Not your head. Maybe your foot. Or a forearm.”  
“How generous. Look, Wy, I don’t know what I’ve done. Are you mad about the girl?”  
“Yes.” Shit, alcohol’s taken away his filter, too.  
“I didn’t sleep with her, we just-”  
“Don’t wanna hear about it,” Wylan groans, although secretly he’s a bit cheered.  
“No, I mean it. She spent the whole time talking about her ex, who, by the way, sounds like a lovely girl, but also not what I intended to chat about. And I spent the whole time talking about… well. Doesn’t matter. We never even kissed. Well, much.”  
“Who were you talking about?”  
“Oh, look at that, we’re here.” It’s true, they’ve reached the building containing the room where Wylan sleeps.  
Wylan rolls his eyes. “You’re really not going to tell me?”  
“C’mon, Wy. You already know.” Jesper takes his arm to help him up the steps, but Wylan shakes him off.  
“I’m fine.” His brain is buzzing like it’s figuring something out, but he can’t make sense of it now, with the drink still sloshing around in his stomach. They reach his room.  
“I guess… I’ll be on my way. Feel free to come get me in the morning- I know my way around a hangover.”  
Wylan nods, watching Jesper’s retreating back until the drink seems to speak for him again. “Stay.”  
Jesper turns around immediately. “Yeah? You want me to?”  
“I don’t want to be alone.”  
“Alright.” He walks back over to Wylan and they sit down on his bed.  
“When you say I already know who you and green girl were talking about…”  
Jesper groans. “Not doing this right now. Let’s talk about something else. Dogs? You like dogs?”  
“No, tell me,” Wylan entreats, looking up at Jesper with his best puppy dog eyes.  
“Saints, Wy… you’re drunk. You won’t remember this in the morning.”  
“So tell me then.”  
“I… fine, I will. Can we please talk about something else now? Dogs?”  
“Yes, they’re lovely,” Wylan yawns, looking at the clock on his wall. “It’s late.”  
“D’you want me to leave?”  
“Sleep with me.”  
Jesper blinks. “I- you’re drunk. I’d be taking advantage of you.”  
Wylan’s ears go bright red again. “I didn’t mean it like that. Literally, sleep with me. Just sleep, nothing… else.”  
“Alright.” Jesper takes off his shoes and his jacket and Wylan does the same. He pulls back the covers and almost immediately falls asleep with Jesper next to him. It’s almost funny; how one person makes all of his nightmares go away.


	2. One Step Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wylan’s hungover. Jesper helps. 
> 
> or:
> 
> Jesper looks Wylan up and down, head to toe, a slow smile spreading over his face. “You want me to tell you, or show you?”  
> Wylan’s melting. He feels himself oozing onto the floor, a puddle of feelings and flushed cheeks. Headline: Merchling Dies of Emotions. Dashing Gunslinger Lead Suspect. “Surprise me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These characters belong to Leigh Bardugo.

It feels like someone’s jammed needles into Wylan’s head, and he hasn’t even opened his eyes yet. He presses his face deeper in the pillow, trying to block out the light. He doesn’t remember much of last night, but he remembers going to sleep with Jesper beside him. Wylan’s hands reach to the side, searching for Jesper, but find only empty sheets. The momentary disappointment Wylan feels that Jesper’s not beside him is almost as painful as the headache. Presumably, this is what a hangover feels like.  
He rolls over, opening his eyes gingerly. A small noise escapes the back of his throat at the harsh light that assaults his vision. It hurts to… well, breathe, but Wylan dredges himself out of bed and over to the mirror, where he looks at himself, trying to find the similarities between this face and his own. The boy in the mirror looks haggard, with sleep crusted in his eyes and his shirt rumpled, like he needs a good night’s sleep and a good meal, but Wylan always looks like that. There’s an edge of something else behind the bleariness in his eyes, though, and Wylan steps closer, trying to figure out what it is.  
“Morning. I made bacon,” Jesper calls from the corner of the room that serves as the kitchen. “It’s not good, but… it’s bacon.”  
Wylan groans, putting his hands over his ears. He stumbles back to bed, pulling a pillow over his head to mask the noise and the flush of his cheeks. He hadn’t realized that Jesper was still in the room.  
“Ah, so this would be your first hangover, then. Congratulations- you’ve hit a milestone.” He crosses over to the bed, pulling the pillow off Wylan’s face despite his protests and lowering his voice so it doesn’t feel like it’s about to burst Wylan’s eardrums. “I’d advise coffee.” He hands Wylan one of the two mugs on the bedside table and Wylan drinks deeply without hesitating. Anything to make the headache go away.  
The coffee makes existing more manageable, and Wylan sits up, stretching his arms over his head. Jesper swallows, and Wylan follows his gaze to the exposed strip of skin on Wylan’s stomach where his shirt has risen up. He smirks at the effect it has on the other boy.  
“What are you looking at?” His voice is scratchy and thick with sleep.  
“Nothing,” Jesper says, quickly averting his eyes to the opposite wall.  
Wylan smiles to himself, watching him. He’s not sure where this boldness is coming from, whether it’s whatever vestiges of the drink that are still in his system or the fact that he’s the one making Jesper blush for once, but he doesn’t want to let it go. His head still aches, but he pushes it aside, waiting until Jesper cautiously turns back to face him. Deliberately, he unbuttons the top two buttons of his dress shirt.  
“What are you doing?” Jesper asks, voice cracking on the last word.  
“It’s hot in here, don’t you think?”  
Jesper sucks in a breath and holds it for a moment before answering. “You’re right, it is.”  
He leaves it at that, though, grabbing the other cup of coffee and looking away, and Wylan feels a strange surge of disappointment. He’s always losing his cool when Jesper flirts with him, and now he’s upset that Jesper’s holding back?  
Wylan gets up and goes to the table on the other side of the room, where Jesper’s put a plate of bacon. It’s tough, but edible. He appreciates the thought more than anything else.  
Jesper clears his throat. “So, how much of last night do you remember?”  
“Not much. I know we slept together.”  
Jesper chokes on his coffee. “We most certainly did not.”  
Wylan’s ears go pink, and he pulls at the curls above them, trying to cover the blush.“Not like that! I just remember going to sleep with you next to me, and waking up with you gone.”  
“Oh. Sorry about that, I thought you’d want breakfast.”  
“No, I didn’t mean I was upset about it, just that you weren’t there,” Wylan explains, noting the lie with a twinge of guilt even as he says it.  
Jesper looks a little hurt, but forces a smile. “Right, of course. Sorry. Do you remember anything else?”  
“Not… really. I remember the club, and I remember going to sleep, but I don’t remember how we got here, and I don’t remember what we talked about. What did we talk about?”  
Jesper fidgets. “Ah… dogs.”  
“Dogs? That’s it? You know, you’re a pretty terrible liar.”  
“Well, you’re a pretty terrible drunk,” Jesper says, and he sits down on the edge of the table, their faces six inches apart, looking down at Wylan with eyes that make color rise to his cheeks, where he can't even try to hide it.  
“You’re a pretty terrible flirt,” Wylan retorts. He usually backs down just about right now. He doesn’t think he will this time. Maybe that was the difference he saw in the mirror. Maybe hungover Wylan is just fed up enough to finally do something about the static that always seems to permeate the air surrounding him and Jesper. And it’s right about here where Wylan remembers the rest of the previous night. Jesper and the girl in the green dress. Talking about her ex, and Jesper talking about… and sober Wylan is intelligent enough to pick up on who Jesper was talking about. Which means that Jesper… Jesper likes him.  
“Oh yeah? You’re pretty…” Jesper pauses, searching for a suitable barb, and Wylan seizes the opportunity.  
“Aw, thanks.” He’s expecting Jesper to argue the point, but he just gives Wylan a half smile.  
“You’re welcome.”  
Wylan’s cheeks grow warmer. “So you do think I’m pretty.”  
“I thought I’d made that clear.”  
“Opaque, actually,” Wylan says, rolling his eyes, even as he smiles involuntarily because Jesper thinks he’s pretty Jesper thinks he’s pretty Jesper thinks he’s pretty-  
“Big word, use a smaller one?”  
“No, you haven’t made it clear,” Wylan says, smirking at the fact that Jesper doesn’t know what opaque means.  
“C’mon, Wylan. I’m always flirting with you.”  
“You’re always flirting with everyone.”  
Jesper opens his mouth to argue, then shrugs, conceding the point. “But you know I don’t mean it with everyone else.”  
“Oh, so you mean it with me?” Wylan’s heart is threatening to beat out of his chest.  
Jesper’s eyes widen as he realizes what he’s said. He swallows. “Um.”  
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Wylan grins.  
Jesper clears his throat. “Yeah, that’s… yes.” He looks at Wylan, and for the first time since he met Jesper, the facade of confidence is gone and Wylan can see the boy underneath. Somehow, the lack of flirtation just makes Wylan want to kiss him more. He holds his breath, then lets it out, and then he leans forward and kisses Jesper’s cheek. He’s not sure his organs can handle anything beyond that. He looks at the other boy again, trying to gauge his reaction.  
Jesper’s chewing on his bottom lip, looking at Wylan like he’s a puzzle Jesper’s trying to solve, or maybe… a target? It’s unnerving, and Wylan’s breath hitches.  
“What are you thinking?” He gets out.  
Jesper seems to be thinking through his response. “I’m thinking about what I’d like to be doing right now.”  
“And what’s that?”  
Jesper looks Wylan up and down, head to toe, a slow smile spreading over his face. “You want me to tell you, or show you?”  
Wylan’s melting. He feels himself oozing onto the floor, a puddle of feelings and flushed cheeks. Headline: Merchling Dies of Emotions. Dashing Gunslinger Lead Suspect.“Surprise me.”  
Jesper cocks an eyebrow. “Alright.” Then he grabs Wylan by the collar and kisses him so hard he goes blind.  
There’s a drumbeat pulsing in Wylan’s ears, or maybe that’s coming from his chest. He feels like one of the explosives that he built for the Dregs. Bang. That’s how he feels. Jesper’s hands are in his hair, on his neck, somehow everywhere at once, and Wylan didn’t notice it but he’s got Jesper by the nape of his neck, heartbeat pulsing under his thumbs. He thinks, dimly, through the haze of Jesper Fahey that’s overtaking him, that he likes having Jesper wrapped up in his hands, where he can’t get hurt.  
Jesper pulls back enough that their lips aren’t touching anymore, but their foreheads still are. “Was that okay?”  
Wylan laughs incredulously, still a little out of breath. “Okay? Jesper Fahey, that was brilliant.”  
“Oh, so we’re in agreement, then.”  
Wylan lets his head fall forward onto Jesper’s shoulder. “You need to work on making your intentions clear.”  
“Sorry, I- did you not know I was going to do that?”  
“No, that part I got, but- Jesper, I didn’t know you liked me. I mean, that’s assuming you do. Um. Do you?”  
Jesper laughs, and Wylan feels it in his throat. “Yes, I do. Quite a bit, actually.”  
“Well, then.” Wylan pulls Jesper’s arms around him.  
“On the subject of, well, feelings, I should tell you that we didn’t just talk about dogs yesterday.”  
“Oh, I’m well aware,” Wylan says, smirking into Jesper’s neck. And then kissing it, for good measure. He’s rewarded with Jesper’s sharp intake of breath at the feel of Wylan’s lips.  
“You bastard, you remembered and didn’t tell me?”  
“I thought there were… better uses of our time.”  
“Well. I can’t argue with that.”  
“On the subject of which…”  
“One step ahead,” Jesper says, unknotting his tie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long- I’ve just been busy and also couldn’t figure out how to write this. But I sat down this morning and gave it a shot. I really hope you enjoy- I finally put my boys out of their misery.


End file.
